My Treasure
by GreysWriter070
Summary: After 6 months of not seeing each other, Neal catches a glimpse of Sara through the NYC crowd. Takes place after 'On the Fence' but ignores all events in 'Countdown'.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: My Treasure

**Summary**: After 6 months of not seeing each other, Neal catches a glimpse of Sara through the NYC crowd...

**Type**: Multi-chapter

**Disclaimer**: All White Collar characters belong to USA Network.

**Author's Note:**

This is my first attempt at writing any fan fiction. I really hope you all like it. A huge thanks to Eldorah for showing me how to lay out dialogue and a bigger thanks to my wonderful beta mam711 for taking the time to help me improve my story.

This takes place about 6 months after 'On the Fence' but ignores all events in 'Countdown' (except the con to recover the painting, Neal parachuting off a building was awesome).

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><p>"Are you ready?" asked Mozzie with a slightly-worried look. "Tomorrow's the day. You can't back off now."<p>

"I know, Mozz. I'm ready," answered Neal unconvincingly.

Mozz started going over their plan again as they walked down the street. Neal wasn't really listening, given that he had heard the plan several times already. Instead, he was thinking about all the things that he would be giving up: Peter and the team, his apartment and June, and New York... Neal loved the city and he just knew that he could never come back.

He was lost in his thoughts when he saw her, just two blocks ahead of him and Mozz. Sara... Even though he could only see her face, she looked as beautiful as always. As they got closer, neither of them could believe their eyes.

"Is that Sara?" Mozzie heard himself say without thinking.

"It can't be," said Neal, "this just can't be happening."

Neal rushed through the crowd to get to her, but he was too late. Before he could reach her, she flagged down a cab and took off.

Mozz quickly caught up with Neal. "It probably wasn't her, just someone who looks like her, I mean, there's ..." Mozz kept talking, trying to reassure Neal, but they both knew what they had seen.

"I have to see her. I have to know if it's true." He walked to the curb and proceeded to flag a cab for himself.

"Where are you going?" Mozz suspected he knew the answer.

"Her house. I need to see her," Neal frenetically waved his arm up and down.

"Are you crazy? Her house is out of your radius; it'll trigger the anklet. What if she's not even home?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll wait on her steps all day if I have to." Neal got in the cab.

"Wait, what about tomorrow?" Mozzie said, realizing they may have to hold off on their great escape once more.

"I'll call you," Neal said as he closed the door of the cab. _This can't be!_ Neal thought to himself as he mindlessly gave Sara's address to the cab driver.

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><p><strong>AN:** It's a short first chapter, but I promise, it gets better. I'll upload next chapter tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thanks for all the reviews. As promised, here is chapter two

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><p>Sara sat on her recliner. It was so comfortable and it felt good to just sit after a day of shopping. She had almost everything she needed. She hoped she was ready, and she couldn't wait.<p>

She was lost in her thoughts when she heard her doorbell ringing. She got up to see who it was through the video feed. "Neal," she said out loud as she felt her heart sink to the ground. Why was he here? What did he want? Did he know? How? Did someone tell him? Who?

All these questions ran through her head while she thought about what to do. Should she pretend she wasn't home? No, that would be incredibly cowardly of her. Besides, if he knew and that was why he was here, she knew that Neal would just wait all day for her to come home. No, he was here and she would have to face him.

So many times she had thought of what she would say. If it had been a month or two ago, she could've hid it and it was possible that he would have believed her. But now it was too obvious.

She heard the loud ring of the bell once more. And without thinking about it any more, she turned on the intercom.

"Sara, please open the door. I know you're home."

"What do you want, Caffrey?" She was determined to keep him out as long as she could.

"Please, open the door. I need to see you."

"What do you want, Neal?" she said in a softer tone.

"Please, Sara, let me in."

"We haven't spoken for 6 months; what do you want with me now?"

"Sara, please," he begged.

She knew by now that he wasn't going to leave. The pleading in his voice sounded so painful that she could even see it in his eyes. She decided to open the door. "What?" She opened the door just enough to let him see her face while deliberately hiding the rest of her body. "There, now, you've seen me," she said in a last attempt to get rid of him.

"Open the rest of the door, Sara."

She did. She stood there, not sure of what to say or do, just giving him time to take in what his eyes had already seen earlier.

He also just stood there. Neal Caffrey, who always knew the next move, suddenly was at a complete loss for words.

"How far along?" he finally said after what seemed like infinite silence.

She didn't answer; she just stood there, feeling like a teenager who had finally been caught by her parents.

"How far along?" he repeated, this time stronger, angrier.

"32 weeks," she said, almost whispering.

"Why … hm." He cleared his throat, not really sure why. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You had your treasure and your escape to worry about," she finally said as she moved out of the way and motioned for him to come in.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Again, thanks for all the great reviews. I'm glad everyone's enjoying the story. I know that this is a very short chapter, but I promise, the one after will be longer.

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><p>Neal found himself back at his apartment.<p>

Maybe she was right. Of course she was right. How would he ever even know how to be a father. He probably wouldn't even know where to start.

She was right, he should just forget about it. Forget he ever saw her.

But how could he. He had seen her. She looked so beautiful, her incredibly sexy curves now replaced by a different kind of curves…. She looked so.…

"Focus, Neal," he finally said to himself.

She was right. He didn't know how to do this.

NO! She was wrong. If he didn't know, neither did she. And he could learn, just as she was going to learn. He could learn. How hard could it be?

He should just go ahead with Mozz's plan. Carry out the great escape. Take the treasure. Everything was set and ready to go.…

NO! He couldn't leave. What if … what if something happened to Sara? Her sister wasn't around; her parents had passed away. If something did happen, his child could end up in foster care … in the system. NO! He couldn't leave.

Neal kept going back and forth in his mind while wandering all over his apartment, not knowing what to do.

"I can't leave," he finally admitted, "I would never forgive myself."

With that he rushed back to Sara's house. He would tell her right now.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I realized I'll probably won't get a chance to update over the weekend. To make up for that, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

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><p>Sara sat at the dining table. She felt exhausted, like she had used all her strength to fight Neal off and now she couldn't even get herself to her bed.<p>

She felt very weak, more than normal. She tried to put her hand between her legs to lean on the chair. That's when she felt it.

She looked down … blood … lots of blood. She immediately panicked.

She sat there. Frozen. Scared.

"Phone!" she finally thought. "Call 911."

When she tried to move, she felt an intense pain in her abdomen. She was even more scared. She could see how the blood was dripping from the chair and onto the dining room floor.

"Phone — I have to get to the phone."

She scanned the house and try to remember where she had left it. _Kitchen_. She remembered there was a phone in the kitchen.

Slowly and carefully she tried to get up, fighting the intense pain she felt. She held on to anything she could find and made it to the phone. She dialed 911.

"911 operator. What is your emergency?"

"I'm … bleeding," she finally uttered on the phone.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm … pregnant," she tremblingly responded.

"Ok, stay calm. Help is on the way. What is your address?"

Sara gave out her address to the operator sobbingly. That's when she realized she was crying. She was terrified.

"What is your name?"

"Sara … Sara Ellis."

"Ok, Sara. Help is on the way. The EMT will be there very soon. How far along are you?"

"32 weeks." She felt very weak, as if she was drifting into sleep.

"Are you having any contractions?"

"No… I don't think so."

"Sara, stay with me. Keep talking. Now, is there anything that the EMT has to know to get to your apartment?"

"The alarm."

"The alarm. Ok, is there a code to deactivate the alarm?"

"Yes: 5417."

"Ok. Sara, what is your doctor's name?"

She heard the operator talking but she could not muster enough energy to respond. Then everything faded away.

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><p>"Sara." She heard a voice calling her. She would recognize it anywhere. "Sara, I'm here. I'm not leaving. Ever."<p>

"Neal," she whispered before everything went dark again.

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><p><strong>AN:** For any OTH fans, any similarities to Sawyer Scott are purely coincidental.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** To celebrate the fact that I wrote the last chapter for this story this weekend, here's an update. Enjoy!

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><p>As the taxi was approaching Sara's house, Neal kept on repeating the speech in his head. He had it all planned out: he was going to let her know that he wasn't going to leave. That he would give the treasure up and stay with her and the baby.<p>

The baby … their baby … his child.… Neal still could not believe what was happening.

When he arrived at her block he saw the blinding red warning lights. He got out of the cab right away and started running.

"I'm sorry, you can't go any closer," said a man in a uniform. Neal didn't know what he was, but he was certainly not going to stop him. He shoved him aside and kept running towards the ambulance.

"Sara.…" he whispered.

"Do you know her?" asked a female EMT.

"Yes! She's my … she's … I'm the baby's dad."

"Get in then!" the EMT ordered as she motioned him inside the ambulance.

He immediately found a place close to her ears and started talking to her, reassuring her that she was going to be ok.

"Sara," he said, "Sara, I'm here. I'm not leaving. Ever."

"Neal.…"

"Sara, stay with me.…"

And then he heard a loud beep. Then someone yelled "CLEAR!" and he watched in shock as the paramedics tried to restart her heart.

Her heart had stopped. Her heart had stopped! No, she had to be ok. She could not leave him now.

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><p>"Agent Burke?" the voice on the phone said.<p>

"Yes, this is he." Peter was enjoying his late dinner with his wonderful wife.

"This is the US Marshals office. You're listed as the handler for Neal Caffrey."

"Yes, I'm his handler. Is there anything wrong?" Knowing Neal, he was certain something was wrong.

"He has been out of his radius for thirty minutes now," said the man on the line. "The GPS signal on his anklet puts him at a hospital."

"Why wasn't I notified earlier?"

"We were unsure if he was heading to one of the exempt locations outside his radius."

"Which hospital is he at?" asked Peter, partly concerned and partly angry that he wasn't notified earlier. He started gathering his jacket, badge and his gun.

"Honey, what's wrong?" asked a concerned El.

"Neal. He's outside his radius … in a hospital."

"Keep me posted!" Elizabeth yelled as Peter hurried off to his car.

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><p>As he was driving towards the hospital, Peter realized he hadn't even tried to reach Neal on his phone.<p>

From his Bluetooth-enabled car, he dialed Neal's cell.

"Hello," Neal answered, in a very wary tone.

"Neal! You're ok," Peter responded, relieved. "What are you doing in a hospital outside your radius?"

"It's Sara."

"Well, I'm almost there. You can tell me what happened when I get there."

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><p>Peter met Neal at the emergency waiting room.<p>

"Peter.…" Neal was genuinely glad to see his friend.

"How is she? What happened?"

Just as Neal was about to start telling Peter about Sara, a nurse came and ushered them to a different waiting room.

"Where are we going?" Peter asked the nurse.

"Maternity ward."

Peter then put two and two together. "Maternity? Sara? Wait, you and Sara? When did this happen? I thought you two broke up?" blabbered Peter as they walked through the hospital.

"We did."

"So this happened before you broke up?"

"I assume so."

"Did you know?"

"No," Neal answered, a bit annoyed at all the questions. Peter knew it was probably time to stop asking.

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><p>Shortly after they arrived at the maternity waiting room, a doctor appeared. "Sara Ellis?" There were about 5 families waiting to hear about their new additions.<p>

Peter and Neal promptly stood up and walked over to meet the doctor.

"You are…?" questioned the doctor.

"I'm the baby's dad." It still sounded very strange to say that.

"In that case, congratulations. You have a baby daughter."

Neal felt a huge grin over his face. A girl.… Unfortunately, the doctor interrupted the thought.

"Although she's healthy, she was a bit early. She's very small, just under 4 pounds. Her organs seem sufficiently developed, but we are still a bit concerned about her immune system. She'll probably need to stay in the NICU for a few days, probably no more than 5. She should be fine after that."

Neal struggled to take this all in. "And Sara?" he finally asked, almost whispered.

"Sara is a different story. She has a rare blood condition that slows down the natural clotting process. This is probably what caused the placenta to detach, which caused the early labor and all the bleeding. She's lost a lot of blood and although we've administered clotting agents, the bleeding hasn't subsided yet. If it does not stop in a few hours, we may have to perform an emergency hysterectomy."

"Can I see them?"

"Of course. I'm sorry," the doctor said, motioning to Peter. "I'm afraid only family is allowed at this time."

"I understand." Peter motioned Neal to follow the doctor.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thanks all for the great reviews. Keep them coming.

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><p>"Hi, baby girl," Neal whispered to the baby inside the incubator. "You know, yesterday I wasn't sure if I could do this. Actually, I'm still not sure that I can. You know, part of me still thinks you'll be better off with just your mom. She's pretty amazing.… I certainly would prefer you growing up to be like her and not like me.<p>

"But then again, my dad wasn't around when I was growing up and I still turned out like him… and he missed so much. I don't know how to do this, baby girl."

At that moment, he heard the door to the NICU open.

"Peter! How did you get in?"

"You're not the only one who can talk his way into places, you know."

"You pretended to be Sara's dad, didn't you?"

"Yeah.… How is she?"

"Stable."

"She's so small." Neal just nodded.

"How's Sara?"

"Still unconscious.

"Peter, I don't think I can do this," he finally confessed, "I don't even know where to start."

"I hear it's not that hard," Peter answered jokingly.

"How come you and Elizabeth don't have kids?"

"She, um, El can't have children."

"Oh, I am sorry," Neal said awkwardly, embarrassed of having asked in the first place.

"It's all right, we're pretty happy just the two of us, and Satchmo."

They both laughed at the comment.

"But you…. Look at her, she needs you."

"I know. But how am I going to do this? You know I didn't have the best role model."

"You're not your father, Neal. You are great at everything you do. And this parenting thing is going to be no exception."

"Thanks, Peter. I wish I could believe that."

"You know that I'm here for you."

"I know."

"So which one of you is the proud father?" asked a nurse as she entered the NICU.

"He is," said Peter grabbing Neal's shoulder.

"Ok, dad, would you like to feed your daughter?"

"I don't know how." Neal was quite surprised at the request.

"It's not hard, I'll show you."

Neal turned to look at Peter, who gave him an encouraging pat on the back, pushing him towards the nurse and the baby.

Neal watched carefully as the nurse pulled out a syringe and what he assumed was a bottle of formula.

"Now, put on these gloves and this face mask. You're going to put your pinky finger in her mouth and she'll start to suck on it. Then you'll grab this syringe and very slowly start to release the formula, letting it drip down your finger and into her mouth."

Neal was taken aback at the instructions he had been given. This was definitely not what he had in mind when he thought of how babies are supposed to eat.

The nurse opened the incubator and guided Neal's finger to the correct position in the baby's mouth.

The small toothless gums tickled Neal's fingers and he felt tears of joy streaming down his face.

"See, you're already doing it," said Peter, who had been watching the whole time.

Neal knew this was just the beginning of countless amazing experiences that he would have with his daughter. Maybe Peter was right: he could do this. He certainly knew he did not want to miss it.

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><p>Sara started to slowly bring everything into focus. Hospital. She was in a hospital. She tried to focus harder. Hand. She tried to move her hand. She felt something on it. Look around. She tried to move her head but everything was spinning. That was probably not a good idea. Then she heard him again.<p>

"Sara, you're awake."

"Neal," she heard herself say. "What…?" She felt like she didn't have enough energy to finish her question.

"It's a girl!" He had that sneaky grin on his face that she loved so much. "She's beautiful. Looks just like you."

She smiled. "Can I see her?" she asked, with more energy this time.

"Um … she's … she's still too small to … she's still in the NICU."

"Is … she … ok?"

"Yes, yes, she's fine. Just very tiny. She just needs a few days to get bigger."

"What … happened?"

"You … started bleeding.… They had to get the baby out and give you lots of blood transfusions. They were able to stop the bleeding. You're gonna be fine too," he said as his smile came over him again. "Now, you need to rest. You need to get better. Don't worry about anything, I'm here."

"Ok," she said softly as she drifted back to sleep.

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><p>Sara woke up. This time she felt … better. She tried to move her arms and this time, they responded. She was able to look around. She seemed to be all alone in the hospital room. She tried to move her feet. It worked! She tried her legs; they moved too! She then tried to get herself up and off the bed.<p>

"Aagghhh." She felt a sharp pain.

"What are you doing?" she heard Neal ask from the hospital room door.

"Trying … to … get … up.…" she muttered while gasping from the pain.

"Here, let me help you."

He stood next to her bed and gave her his arm. She pulled herself up and was able to move her legs to the side of the bed. Then she got up.

"Aaahhh.…"

"You ok?"

"Oww. No. It's … fine.… I can … do this.…" she panted. "Door … and … back.…"

"Ok." He obliged.

She made it, all the way to the door and back.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, concerned, once they got back to the bed.

"Better, I think. I wanna see her."

"I'll be right back then," he said with a smile on his face.

He came back with a wheelchair. "Get on!"

"She is beautiful!" she whispered as she sat in the NICU next to her newborn daughter.

"I told you."

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><p><strong>AN: **The scene at the beginning of this chapter has got to be one of my favorite parts. A few years ago a friend of mine had preemie twins (I believe they were in fact 32 weeks) and when I went to visit her in the hospital her husband was feeding one of the babies like this. I thought it was super adorable. I hope you are all enjoying the story so far.


	7. Chapter 7

"You seem to be making a quick recovery. Iron levels are back to normal. You seem to have regained at least some strength. You can walk on your own. I think you're ready to go home," the doctor admitted, holding her chart.

"Really? Thank you!" Sara said excitedly.

"That's great. Thanks, Doctor," said Neal.

"I'm so ready to get out of here."

"I just need to ask you a few more questions … in private."

Neal took the hint. "I'll be right outside." He closed the door behind him.

"Sara, how are you feeling … emotionally?"

"I feel great! I'm very happy, extremely happy now that you mention it. I'm not normally this happy of a person."

"Post-partum endorphins are powerful stuff. I would be more concerned if you felt sad or anxious. You should be back to feeling more like yourself in a few weeks." The doctor scribbled some more in the chart before putting it down. "If you don't have any more question, the pediatrician should be in shortly to talk to you about the baby."

"Thank you doctor."

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><p>"Guess what I found?" asked Neal from the door of the hospital room. Right behind him, the pediatrician and a nurse walked in; she was rolling a bassinet with their baby girl inside.<p>

"Your daughter seems to be in much better shape." The pediatrician motioned for the nurse to hand the baby to Sara. "She's now a bit over 5 pounds, which is within range for a full-term newborn. Her white blood cell count is also at a normal level. She's been eating well. I think she's ready to go home."

"Wow! That's great news," said Neal, not looking at him, but at his baby girl.

"Just one question: have you decided on a name?"

Neal and Sara looked at each other with questioning looks.

"You should really think of one. She's already 5 days old."

"We'll think of something," answered Sara.

"Did you have a name in mind?" asked Neal after the doctor and the nurse had left.

"Lily," said Sara, more to the baby than to Neal.

"Lily Ellis," repeated Neal. "I like it!"

"Lily Caffrey-Ellis," Sara corrected him, with a sweet smile on her face.

She knew in the back of her head that this was probably just a dream that she would have to wake up from. After all, Neal already had plans to run away with his treasure and Mozzie. Even though he kept repeating to her that he wasn't leaving, she just didn't believe him. She knew this 'happy family' dream would have to end once she got home. But for now, she let the fantasy continue.

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><p><strong>AN: **Yes, I know it's short. To make up for it, I promise to update really soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Thanks all for the great reviews. Keep them coming.

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><p>"Thanks so much for driving us home," said Sara as they pulled up to her house.<p>

"No problem, Sara," said El. "We were not about to let you bring this precious baby back in a cab, right, honey?"

"Of course not," answered Peter. "It's our pleasure."

Sara took another look at her house; something was off.

"What happened to my door?" Sara was hoping someone in the car knew and had keys.

"It had to be replaced," answered Peter. "The paramedics had to break it to get to you."

"Right." Sara was a bit embarrassed that she had 'forgotten' that.

"Peter had it replaced," chirped in Neal. "Don't worry, I have keys."

"Well, here you are," said El as she dropped off the last of the bags from the car.

"We'll leave you two alone now; I'm sure you have lots to do," said Peter.

"Thank you so much for everything."

"Call if you need anything, ok?" offered El.

"I will," answered Sara as she walked them out of the house.

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><p>Sara seemed to have lost track of time. She knew that it had been a few days, but she didn't realized that weeks had passed since she had been discharged from the hospital and had brought Lily home. Those first weeks were a total blur.<p>

She realized that she had let the fantasy go on for too long. Sure, he was great and helpful and he really did care about Lily, but he was Neal, always with another plan up his sleeve.

"It's getting late," she said one evening.

"You can go to bed if you're tired, I can keep an eye out for Lily and bring her over when she wakes."

That had been the pattern the past few days: she would go to sleep, he would stay up for a while longer or fall asleep on the couch; when Lily woke up, he would go get her and bring her to Sara's room, where she would feed her and then she would bring her back to the nursery.

"You should go home, Neal." It came out harsher than she had intended.

"What's going on?" he immediately questioned.

"You've been great these past weeks, really … but … I think it's time for you to go home."

"Sara, what's wrong?" He wasn't sure where all this was coming from.

"Come on, Neal, what are we doing here? Playing house?

"This isn't you, and this isn't me," she said after a long pause. "Go home Neal," She started to open the front door.

"Sara, I.…"

"Please!" she said, cutting him off. Whatever his argument, she knew he would probably manage to convince her, so she didn't let him speak.

"Good night, then."

"Good night."

She knew this was going to be a long night, since Lily was still getting up every 3 hours. Luckily, the baby nurse she had hired would be arriving in the morning.

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><p><strong>AN: **Sorry for not updating sooner but RL got in the way.

**A/N 2: **I wanted to thank my beta mam711 once more for being so great and helping so much with this whole story.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **All those wonderful reviews have made me want to update sooner :)

Thanks again to mam711 for beta-ing my story.

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><p>Sara was cuddling with Lily on the couch; she had just finished feeding her when she heard the doorbell ring.<p>

"What are you doing here? Don't you have to go to work?"

"No, I don't actually, I need to be here."

"I told you to go home."

"You need help!"

"I hired help," she replied as he saw the baby nurse that had arrived earlier that morning holding Lily.

"Neal. Go home." She closed the door in his face.

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><p>"What are you doing here? I had to work very hard to get Hughes to agree to give you a few days off." Neal walked into Peter's office without responding. "What happened?" Peter asked when he saw the sad look in Neal's eyes.<p>

"She kicked me out."

"What did you do?" Peter was sure that he must have done something wrong.

"I don't know." Neal honestly did not know why she had suddenly reacted like that.

"Really? You didn't do anything?"

"Really, I don't know what came over her."

"Hormones?" Peter tried to come up with something.

"Probably, at least I hope that's all that was, I guess I should give her a few days to calm down."

"I'm sure she'll come around. In the meantime, maybe you can help us with this case we're having trouble cracking…."

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><p><strong>AN: **I didn't realize how short this chapter is... I'll update the next chapter today to make up for it ;)


	10. Chapter 10

"God, why are you here again?" Sara answered the door, annoyed.

"Sara, please, you have to tell me what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Sara finally admitted.

"Then why won't you let me see my daughter?"

"Your daughter? You didn't know you were going to have one till a few weeks ago. Neal, we broke up. I really am grateful for everything you did for us in the hospital, but what did you think was going to happen? Did you really think we would just pick up where we left off? Be a happy little family?"

"Sara, don't do this," Neal pleaded with her again, trying to finally understand her behavior.

"You have plans, I have responsibilities," she continued. "I'm going back to work soon and I have a lot of things to take care of before that, and … just … please leave. Go off with your friend to an island far away … and leave us alone."

"That's what this is about, the damn U-boat? Sara, I'm not going anywhere."

"Yeah … you are …" she finally said.

He was speechless.

"Goodbye, Neal." She tried to hold back tears as she closed the door.

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><p>"Seriously, you have to stop coming to my house. Isn't it outside your radius anyway?"<p>

"Peter added it as an exception."

"What do you want now?"

"I've stayed away; I've given you time. It's been almost a month since I last saw her."

"I don't need your time; I don't need you to give me anything. Actually, I do need you to do something: I need you to leave me alone." She was about to close the door on him one more time when he finally decided to push back.

"You have to let me see her. I'm her father!"

"Her father? Neal, you don't even know what that means." She finally closed the door and he didn't fight her any more.

Instead of taking a cab home right away, he decided to take a walk through the park to clear his head. Maybe she was right—he didn't know what being a father was; after all, he didn't have one, he wasn't sure what ever made him think he could be one.

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><p>"That's it, guys, let's get to work." As all the agents were leaving the conference room, Peter stopped Neal at the door. "Neal, my office, now!<p>

"What's going on with you? You missed the identity of the suspect."

"I know, Peter, I'm sorry."

"How are things with Sara?"

"She won't even talk to me."

"Any idea why?"

"Let's say she doesn't think I'm exactly father material."

"And what do you think?"

"Sometimes I think she's right; that I'm just kidding myself."

"And the other times?"

"The other times … I just think of the feeling I had holding that baby in my arms. It's like she's a part of me."

"Well, she is your daughter."

"Yeah…" Neal said with a sigh, "Look, Peter, I'm sorry about the meeting. It won't happen again."

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><p>"Boss, I have the documents that you requested..." said Diana as she entered Peter's office.<p>

"Thanks."

"Boss, is everything all right?"

"I'm worried about him," said Peter, pointing to Neal.

"Do you know what's the matter? I have seen him staring at that picture a lot lately." They both looked towards Neal's desk, where he sat quietly, staring at a picture of Lily.

"Sara won't let him see the baby."

"Well, she probably has good reasons," Diana concluded.

"He really cares about her, and not seeing her is clearly affecting him."

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"I've tried, but we both know Neal is not one to share his feelings."

"You know, Sara really looks up to you," Diana tried to hint,. "It can't hurt," she said as she walked out the office door.

Peter looked towards Neal once more. Diana was right; maybe he could convince Sara.

* * *

><p>"Peter!" said Sara as she opened the door to her office. "Come on in," she motioned. "To what do I owe the visit? You know I'm not an investigator any more, right?"<p>

"No, I did not know that." Peter was very surprised at the revelation. "I'm finding it hard to picture you doing boring paperwork."

"Yeah, paperwork fits better into my personal life now," she said, sounding a bit disappointed. "So, how can I help?"

"It's about Neal," Peter finally admitted. "Sara, he really cares about you."

"Peter, with all due respect, this is none of your business," She knew exactly where this conversation was heading.

"I know that. But this is affecting his work performance," he said, in an attempt to make it 'his business'.

"Well, then he needs to learn to leave his personal issues at home," Sara responded sarcastically.

"Whatever he may have done or said…."

"Peter, really, you're out of line here."

"Look, I don't know what's going on between you two, but whatever your feelings are towards him, she's still his daughter, and you should let him see her. He really cares about her; he just wants to see her."

Sara wasn't sure how to answer that. Peter was right: no matter what Neal had done or planned on doing, he was still Lily's dad.

"Just think about it."

"Fine," She did not want to admit that he was right. "I'll think about it."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Update time!

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><p>Neal sat at his desk trying to finish up. He was unaware of the time or that most of the other agents had gone home. He felt like his work was the only thing that distracted him from not being able to see his daughter. He had thought several times about getting a lawyer (a real lawyer, not a Mozzie 'lawyer') but no judge was going to grant a convicted felon who was still currently serving his sentence any kind of partial custody of a child.<p>

Maybe she was right: he should forget about the whole parent thing and take off with Mozz.

* * *

><p>As he was walking towards June's mansion, he noticed that the living room lights were still on. He thought that was odd since June usually retired for the evening earlier than this.<p>

He was very cautious when opening the door. He could just feel something was off.

"Sara!" he exclaimed, very surprised to see her. Out of all the things that ran through his head, Sara being at his place had certainly not been one of them.

She was sitting on the living room couch next to June. He quickly shifted his attention to the small child in June's arms. "Lily! You brought her."

The two women could clearly see the joy and relief in his eyes. June immediately handed him the baby.

"She's so big... She looks so different..." Neal was enjoying the feeling of finally having his daughter in his arms. "Hi, baby girl, I missed you," he said in a baby voice that no one in the room had ever heard before.

Sara couldn't help but be moved by the scene in front of her. Maybe she had been too rough on him by not letting him see Lily all this time. She let the reunion continue a few more minutes before interrupting.

"Neal, we need to talk."

"Why don't you hand me that bundle of joy and you two can go up to your room," June suggested.

Neal reluctantly handed the baby back to June and led Sara up the stairs.

They stood close to his apartment door, silent.

"Saturdays!" she said quickly, as soon as she realized he was going to open his mouth.

"What?" He was not sure what was so important about that particular day of the week.

"Saturdays," she said, more calmly this time. "You can have Lily on Saturdays. I thought about it," she continued, "and I feel like this is a fair compromise. You can hang out at my place, you can bring her here, you can go wherever you want. You only have a two-mile radius, so I know you won't get very far."

"Saturdays?" he said excitedly.

"Saturdays."

"Thank you so much, Sara; I swear I'll take excellent care of her."

"I know you will."

He looked at her with sweet blue puppy eyes and she knew she had made the right decision.

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><p><strong>AN: **Beta thanks to mam711


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **I'm soooo sorry for not updating sooner. I'm really really sorry. I promise, I didn't forget about you, my wonderful readers, or about my story.

To make it up to you, I'll upload another chapter tomorrow.

* * *

><p>"Well, aren't you cheery this morning," Peter said to Neal as he walked past his desk and noticed he was playing with his hat.<p>

"I am. Sara came by last night."

"Really?" Peter was a bit surprised that his words had in fact made her change her mind. "What did she say?"

"She said I can take Lily on Saturdays!" he said excitedly.

"That's great. I'm really happy for you, I know how much you care about her."

"I do," said Neal sincerely.

* * *

><p>"Seriously, Neal," said Mozzie. "This looks just wrong!"<p>

"What exactly is wrong?" Neal knew exactly what Mozzie meant.

"This!" He pointed to the stroller he was pushing through the Central Park trails. "Neal Caffrey, family man? It's so wrong."

Neal snickered at his friend's take on it. Maybe it did seem a bit strange to push a stroller through the park without it being part of some con, but with just one look down, all his doubts were gone once he saw the sweet little baby sleeping inside.

"Why are you still here anyway? You've had everything set for months now," Neal was genuinely curious to know why Mozz hadn't taken off yet.

"I'm still trying to find a suitable companion."

"You'll probably find one faster once you actually own an island."

"Yes, and then she will leave me for the owner of the bigger island next door."

At that point a very loud bike drove by, waking up little Lily.

"Don't cry, little girl, it's ok," Neal picked Lily up from her stroller.

"What's wrong? Why won't she stop crying?"

"She got scared. I bet you get scared by loud noises too," Neal teased.

"But that was like five minutes ago; why is she still crying?"

"She's probably hungry. Let's find a bench so I can feed her."

"You actually know how to do that?" Mozzie was more than a bit skeptical.

"Sure, it's not that hard. I've done it a few times, back when she was a newborn and Sara was nice." Neal pulled out a bottle with white liquid from a small cooler in the stroller.

"Is that what she's gonna eat?" asked Mozzie as Neal switched the bottle cap for a nipple. "What is that exactly?" Mozzie wondered out loud.

"Breast milk."

"Eww, that's disgusting." Neal found Mozzie's expression hilarious.

"Relax, you're not the one drinking it."

* * *

><p>"You know, Sara is being awfully nice in granting you 'visitation rights'"<p>

"I know, but she still won't say more than 2 words to me … she still thinks I'm gonna leave."

"Are you sure you're not?"

"And leave her?" he said while looking at the baby in his arms. "I couldn't."

"What are you going to do about Sara?"

"Try to get her back … somehow. Now tell me ..." Neal said, trying to change the subject, "... how much have you fenced so far?"

"Some, but there's still quite a bit left. Haven't you seen the feed?"

"Nah, I turned it off. That's not my treasure anymore. I have a new treasure now," he said, looking at Lily again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **This is one of my favorite chapters. I really like that scene in the park. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing. And thanks to my beta mam711 for all her feedback.

More apologies for not updating.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Update time!

* * *

><p>"You're late," said Sara as she opened the door.<p>

"5 minutes," Neal argued as he pushed the stroller into the house.

A few weeks had passed since they had started their agreement. He was always at Sara's house 8 am on the dot to pick Lily up and back at 8 pm to drop her off.

"There was a lot of traffic on the bridge, I swear."

"Don't do it again, Caffrey."

"I'll make it up to you."

"How? Please don't say by picking her up later or dropping her off earlier since all that would accomplish is throw off the rest of my Saturday."

"Have dinner with me," he said with devious blue eyes.

"I don't think so." She tried to get him out the door.

"Come on, you deserve a little fun. Besides, when was the last time that you went out to dinner … that was not work-related."

Damn him! she thought. He was right; she could not remember the last time she had gone out to dinner. If she had to guess, it would've probably been when they were still together; probably before Lily even existed.

"You have no excuse; I know you have a live-in nanny. Come, you, me, a nice bottle of wine…."

"You know I can't drink," she countered.

"Ok then, you, me, a bottle of Pellegrino…."

He saw her sweet smile followed by a giggle and he knew she could not turn him down now.

"Fine, one dinner," she finally agreed, still laughing from the earlier comment.

"How's Tuesday?"

"Tuesday's fine."

"I'll pick you up at your office? 6 o'clock?"

"6:30."

"Good night, then." He was quite content with the outcome of his proposal.

"Good night, Neal."

* * *

><p>"I had a really good time. I mean it, thank you," said Sara as they approached her house.<p>

"You're welcome." He had a devious look in his eyes.

"What?" she asked referring to his look and not so much to his response.

"Can I see her?"

"She's sleeping," she answered playfully, finding his request irresistibly cute.

"Just a peek?" he begged.

"You'll see her on Saturday."

"But that's four whole days away."

"Fine," she finally caved in. "But I swear, if you wake her up..."

"I won't, I'll be as quiet as humanly possible."

Sara opened the door and Neal headed straight to the nursery, where the sleeping baby lay in her crib.

"She's beautiful," he whispered.

"She is…. Come on."

She started to lead him out the bedroom door. When she turned to see if he had followed her, she suddenly found her body against his.

As if a force stronger than themselves was pulling them together, before they knew it they found themselves sharing a passionate kiss.

They were both quite startled when they heard a voice at the same time that the lights turned on.

"Ms. Ellis!" Sara heard the nanny exclaim. "I am so sorry, I heard noises and I thought it was Lily," the woman tried to explain herself.

"It's fine, Benita. Please, go back to bed."

"Yes, Ms. Ellis. I am so sorry," the woman said one last time.

"I..." Neal started to say, not totally sure how to finish that sentence.

"You have to go; we both have work tomorrow."

"Right," he said, disappointed. "Good night, then."

"Good night."

* * *

><p>What had she been thinking, kissing him like that. She had been so good at keeping boundaries so far. The whole 'Saturday' thing had been going well. And she had to ruin it by kissing him…. The voice in her head kept scolding her.<p>

But she had to admit it had been a good kiss. And it felt so good to finally kiss him again. It felt so … right….

No, Sara, she said to herself. This was not the plan. Remember who he is.…

Even thought she still believed that the U-boat treasure was too much for him to resist, she had to admit that Neal was growing closer and closer to Lily with every Saturday.

She tried her best to push all these thoughts out of her head and try to get some sleep. It had been quite an eventful night after all.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Beta thanks to mam711


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **I'm an awful author. I sincerely apologize for taking so much time to upload this story. Unfortunately, my life is extra super crazy at the moment, so I will probably won't find time to upload more chapters again. On the bright side, since all the chapters for this story are finished, I will upload them all today :)

Not the way I had hoped to publish this story, but I do want to be fair to my readers. Enjoy

* * *

><p>More weeks passed. Every Saturday morning Neal would pick Lily up and that evening he would bring her back.<p>

They both distracted themselves with work. And neither had mentioned the other night so far. She even tried to avoid talking to him as much as she could, trying to limit their conversations to 'hello' and 'goodbye'.

"Neal!" she exclaimed one Friday, surprised at seeing him at her house on a day he wasn't supposed to be there.

"Welcome home, mommy," he said, pretending to speak for both Lily and himself.

"What are you doing here?"

"Making dinner."

"I can see that. Why are you in my house making dinner?"

"Because I know how much you like my risotto." He was hoping to charm her into letting him stay.

"I told Benita she can go home, but she insisted on waiting for you." He pointed to the guest room where the nanny slept during the week.

"Thank you, Benita, for listening when I said to never leave Lily until I am home," said Sara to the woman coming out of the room.

"Of course, Ms. Ellis. Mr. Caffrey insisted I go home, but I said that you had specifically instructed that I never leave Lily with anyone other than you."

"She's good," Neal whispered into Sara's ear.

"Thank you for another great week. I'll see you Monday then."

"Good night, Ms. Ellis. Goodbye, Lily," The nanny bent down to kiss the baby who was sitting in her high chair.

"What were you thinking, trying to kick my nanny out. You know, I'm probably going to have to give her a raise. Really, Neal, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see Lily … and I wanted to see you."

She knew she should kick him out. This was unacceptable; he had barged into her house without her being home and had rummaged through her kitchen already. She wondered if he may have been looking for something that she had that she didn't know about. The scene reminded her of that time when he insisted on taking her home after having been in the FBI office for over a week, only to find out that what he really wanted was that package from the FAA.

But then she turned to see Lily and how happy the baby seemed with Neal around. Maybe for once he was telling the truth and all he wanted was to see them. She took a seat next to the high chair and watched as he finished up dinner while providing quite an entertainment for the two girls.

* * *

><p>"I guess I do have to admit, that was very delicious."<p>

"Hmm, I think Daddy makes a good risotto," Neal pretended to whisper to Lily.

"You know, it's already past her bedtime."

"Can I?" He picked Lily up from her chair. "Can I bring her to bed?"

"You can change her into her pajamas, but I'm afraid I have to do the actual bringing to bed thing … you know … since I'm the one with the breast milk and all."

"Come, sweet girl, let's put your pajamas on," he said as they both went into the nursery.

* * *

><p>"Well, she's sleeping," said Sara, trying to quietly and carefully close the door of the nursery.<p>

"I'm sorry I kept her up past her bedtime." He started walking towards her.

"I.…" She knew she had to say something. Fight him off. Push him away. But he was there in front of her again, looking at her with those hypnotizing blue lustful eyes. He leaned in to kiss her and she couldn't do anything but lean in and kiss him back.

In what seemed like 2 seconds later, most of their clothes had made their way to the floor and the two of them lay on her bed.

She knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her. So she didn't push him away, she didn't fight him off. Instead she slowly surrendered to his gaze.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Beta thanks to mam711


	15. Chapter 15

Neal was woken up by whining from the nursery. He quickly slid out of bed carefully as to not wake Sara up, and slipped on his pants. He read the time on his watch: 5:30 am.

"Hey, baby girl, I bet you're hungry. Come, let's find something for you to eat. I bet your mom keeps a stash of milk in the fridge."

He picked up the baby from her crib and headed to the kitchen. Just like he had guessed, he found several bottles of breast milk in Sara's fridge and proceeded to warm one up.

"Now, we have to be very quiet, we don't wanna wake up mom." Neal wasn't sure what would happen once Sara woke up.**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Sara looked at her alarm clock the next morning and it read 10 am. She could not remember the last time she had slept passed 8 in the morning, even on a Saturday.<p>

She quickly realized she was naked under her bed sheets and memories from the night before came rushing back. To say that she was angry was an understatement. She was raging. She could not believe that she had been so stupid to fall for him again. She quickly put on clothes and stormed out her bedroom door and into the kitchen.

"Was this your plan all along? To get me in bed with you? You know you could walk into any bar in New York City and pick any girl up if all you wanted was to get laid. Why do you keep doing this to me?"

"Sara.…"

She didn't give him a chance to respond. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I want out of it."

"It's not like that."

"Do you know why I let you see Lily at all?"

Neal was very puzzled by the question and he honestly did not know the answer. He had wondered that himself and he still could not explain why she kept handing over their daughter once a week and yet kept acting coldly towards him.

"Because she won't remember," she finally responded, "but I will."

"I'm going to remember all of it, and there's only so much I can take. So, please, if you care about me at all, stop this game, because I can't do this any more."

"Sara, I love you."

"Get out!"

He could see tears starting to well up behind her cold glare. He knew that she was going to break down and she did not want him to see that. He complied and calmly walked out the door and shut it behind him.

She exhaled a breath that she didn't know she was holding, and along with it, tears came pouring down her face.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Beta thanks to mam711


	16. Chapter 16

It was only 8 in the morning and Sara was exhausted. The baby had barely slept all night and consequently she hadn't gotten much sleep either. She briefly looked out her window at the breathtaking sight of Prospect Park with its endless rows of trees behind the stone wall. Even though she lived a block away from the park, she could count the times she'd actually been in there on one hand. It seemed like a beautiful day and she figured the fresh air would calm down both her and the baby. After the emotionally-draining day she had had the day before, she could use a long walk in the park.

She packed up her diaper bag fully, not sure how long she would actually stay out. She lugged the baby into her stroller together with the diaper bag and her purse and headed out the door.

* * *

><p>She must have been gone for about two hours. When she was about five houses from hers, she stopped dead in her tracks.<p>

"Good morning, mommy," she heard a smug voice say.

She briefly froze, not sure what to say or do. "What do you want, Keller?"

"Get in the van, Sara."

She turned to see a white van with a painters' logo parked on the sidewalk right next to her. She had been so distracted with the thoughts in her head that she had not being paying attention to her surroundings.

"What do you want with me?"

"It's not really you I'm interested in." Keller was pointing to the stroller.

"Leave her alone. Leave us alone." She tried to continue walking.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, since she's an integral part of my plan. I would get in the van if I were you. We don't want anyone to get hurt, do we?" He pushed the side of his jacket aside to reveal a large gun.

Sara looked behind her and saw two men emerge from inside the van, also pointing their guns at her. She realized she had no choice but to do as Keller said. She would have to find another way to escape later.

* * *

><p>Neal was quite surprised to see Sara's number flash on the caller ID on his cell phone, especially after the events of the day before.<p>

"Sara?"

"Hello, Neal," he heard a man's voice say. It did not take him long to recognize it.

"Where is she, Keller?"

"I believe I have something you want, and you have something I want."

"I don't have anything."

"Don't lie, Caffrey, especially now. Sorry, I'm a little busy, do you mind if I call you back?"

* * *

><p>"Peter, Keller's back! He's got Lily and Sara."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Beta thanks to mam711


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **This was probably the hardest chapter to write - thank you so much to my beta mam711 for all her help here

* * *

><p>"Did you have a chance to gather all of your FBI buddies?" Keller called back about an hour later. This had given Neal and Peter enough time to gather their team on a Sunday morning at the FBI office.<p>

"Just tell me what you want, Keller."

"I already did. What, you don't want to share with the rest of your team?" Keller was fairly certain that he was on speaker in the FBI conference room.

"Let me talk to her; for all I know, all you did was steal her cell phone."

"Fine. Hey, Sara, there's someone on the line for you."

"Neal," he heard her say, relieved.

"Sara, are you guys ok?"

"Yes, we are..."

"All right, enough with the chit-chat," Keller said, cutting them off.

"Wait, this could just be a voice recording," Neal said in a last attempt to talk to Sara again.

"What, you want to ask her a question only she can answer?" Keller said sarcastically.

"Yes!"

"Fine, I guess I can humor you."

"Sara, where did I tell you I kept the Raphael?" She was always one to think quickly on her feet; at least that's what he hoped.

"In a basement."

"There, satisfied?" said Keller, taking the phone away from Sara. "I'll call you again in an hour, I hope you have my request ready by then."

Keller hung up. "I'll be back soon," Keller said to the two men in charge of watching his prisoners. "Don't let her out of your sight." He headed out the door.

* * *

><p>Sara sat on the corner of a bed, holding her daughter in her arms. He had taken her purse ... and her baton and gun with it, not to mention her work cell phone. She felt like she had been there for days even though it had only been a few hours. Keller had been gone for a while, and she hoped he had left not only the basement, but the building as well.<p>

She put the baby down on the bed and reached for the diaper bag that was on the floor.

"Hey, lady! What do you think you're doing?"

"I need to change her diaper." Sara tried to sound as honest as possible. Even though Keller had scanned her diaper bag, she hoped he may have overlooked something inside. She started going through it, trying to find something that would help her get out of that place.

She could not believe her luck! He nanny had forgotten her cell phone in her diaper bag. She figured Keller's scanner didn't detect it because it was off. Unfortunately, she also suspected that the reason the phone was off in the first place was because it was out of battery.

She realized she had been going through her stuff for a bit too long, so she decided to actually change the diaper. This would give her some time to think, as well as keep the two men from suspecting that she was up to something.

* * *

><p>Sara could feel that enough time had gone by that it was time for Lily to eat. She knew that the baby would start crying soon. She was just hoping it would be loud enough to drown the noise that the phone may make when she turned it on.<p>

Soon enough, Lily started crying. Sara pretended to be too scared to do anything about it and she let it go on for a few minutes until she deemed the cries loud enough. She hated using her daughter like this, but it was a necessary part of her plan. She pretended to be flustered by the crying and to frantically go through her diaper bag again when all she really wanted was to turn on the phone. It worked!

Even though the phone's battery icon blinked empty, she hoped the battery would last just long enough for someone to track it down. She knew this was going to be her only chance. With Keller out of the room, she had to get a message to Neal.

She grabbed Lily and positioned herself on the bed facing a corner away from the two henchmen. They had been watching her every move and when she turned around, they started to walk towards her.

"I think it's time for her to eat. Do you mind; I need some privacy." She started to unbutton her shirt. While their backs were turned to her, she was quickly able to send a message to Neal:

_It's Sara, track this_


	18. Chapter 18

"Did you really keep the Raphael in a basement?"

"No, she doesn't know where it is, allegedly. I never told her."

"So the question..."

"She's the one in the basement, Peter."

"Well, I'm not sure how that helps us... What does Keller want, Neal?" asked Peter to an unrelenting Neal.

"Something that I don't have." Neal was pacing around Peter's office, seemingly unable to stop.

"Neal, if we are going to get your family back, you have to tell me everything. You can trust me."

Neal knew he had no choice; he was going to have to come clean.

"Keller wants the Nazi treasure. He thinks I have it."

"Do you?"

"NO!"

"Did that treasure burn?"

"No," he said reluctantly.

"Do you know who has it?"

At that Neal did not respond. He couldn't. Instead he gave Peter a look. A look that told him that he did know who had the treasure, but he just could not tell him.

"Damn it, Neal!" Peter yelled, slamming his fists on his desk.

"I can't..."

"This is your family at risk."

"I know, Peter, but I can't ... I can't answer that question."

"Fine, where is he, then?" Peter was careful to not mention any names.

"I don't know.… He took off a few months ago."

"He left, by himself?"

"He wanted me to go with him," Neal finally admitted, "but.…"

"You didn't," Peter finished for him.

"No. I like my life here … my job, my home, and now, with Lily, my family. I couldn't … I couldn't leave any of it."

At that moment, Neal's phone vibrated.

"It's a text message, from Sara."

"I thought Keller had her phone."

"He does. I don't recognize this number, maybe she got hold of someone else's."

"What does it say?"

"'It's Sara. Track this'."

Peter darted from his chair and down to the bullpen; Neal followed. "Diana, I need you to run a trace on a cell phone," he said once he reached Diana's desk.

"Sure thing, what's the number." Neal read the number to her.

"Ok, give it a minute. There! 599 W 38th St."

"We have to go!" exclaimed Neal.

"What if it's a trap?"

"We still have to go!" Neal knew that it was actually quite likely that this was all part of Keller's plan, but he also knew that this may be their best chance to get his family back.

* * *

><p>"What's going on, boss?" asked one of the goons in the basement once Keller had arrived.<p>

"We'll get our paycheck soon, no worries."

The room went silent when everyone heard a vibration coming from Sara's diaper bag. Keller immediately grabbed the bag and turned it upside down. He saw the phone, with a now-fully-depleted battery, make its way out of the bag and into the bed.

"What is that?"

Sara remained silent and stared at him defiantly.

"I told you two to check her bag," Keller said to the two men. "And you … you think you're so smart." Keller pushed Sara off the bed and towards the floor.

He then grabbed her by her neck and shoved her against the wall.

"You really think you can outsmart me, Sara?"

He tightened his grip around her neck while exploring her body with the muzzle of his gun.

She needed to breath, but she couldn't. He was strangling her so tightly that she could not get a breath of air into her lungs. She knew that if he wanted to, he could pull the trigger and she would actually be dead within minutes, if not seconds. The only thing she could think of was her daughter, laying on the bed, and how she could be dead any moment now and her little girl would be without a mother.

Just when she felt that her trachea was going to break, he let go and instead threw her back on the floor. He kicked her in her gut once before walking away.

"Boss, are those sirens?"

"You two stay here," Keller ordered his men, "I'll go see what's going on."

Keller disappeared once more.

Soon after, Sara heard the words she had been praying for all day.

"FBI, put your hands in the air."

She saw Peter and Neal, along with the 'Harvard crew', bust in and arrest the two goons that were supposed to be watching her.

"Sara!" He took her into her arms.

"Are you ok?" asked a concerned Peter.

"Yeah," she said with a raspy tone in her voice while trying to hide the bruises on her neck.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Beta thanks to mam711


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: **This is the final chapter. I hope you enjoyed my story. But don't go to far, the Epilogue is my favorite :)

* * *

><p>Jones and Sara were working on buckling the car seat into Peter's Taurus while Peter and Neal were standing outside of the building where Keller had kept Sara and Lily.<p>

"Peter, about the—"

Peter interrupted him mid-sentence. "The little guy is not my responsibility; you are."

"So you're not going to go after him?"

"Me? No.… I will have to hand the case over to DC Art Crimes…. I'm proud of you for not running."

The complement made Neal smile. "I couldn't; I like my life here."

"Why don't you take them home?" Peter handed Neal the keys to his car.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I'll catch a ride with Jones and Diana."

* * *

><p>"Are you ok?" Neal asked Sara while getting into the car.<p>

"Yeah," she said, swallowing hard. Her throat was still sore from the earlier attack.

Neal turned on the car and started driving to Sara's place. An awkward silence had befallen in the car, so Neal decided to break it. "I told Peter."

"Told him what?"

"Everything, the truth about the U-boat."

"Which truth?" Sara said, almost sarcastically.

"_The_ truth, Sara. Mozzie's gone. He took off a few weeks ago. He took everything."

Sara didn't respond. Instead she leaned her seat further back and turned to face out the window and sighed.

"There will always be people trying to get to me through you, both of you. I can't control that. But I swear to you, I will always be there to make sure nothing happens … to either of you."

Sara looked deeply into his eyes and felt that she could finally see through his many masks. He was not lying; this time, she was sure he was telling the truth. She put her hand over his on the armrest and leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder.

* * *

><p>"We're here."<p>

"I swear, this has got to have been the longest day of my life."

"Well, our little girl seems to have fallen asleep in the car."

"Good. As much as I love my daughter, I really don't think I can be a mom right now."

"You're sure you're ok?"

She just nodded.

"Should I put her in her crib?"

"Please," she said, collapsing into her couch. She had never been more glad to be home.

"She's still sleeping." Neal emerged from the nursery a few minutes later. "Well, I should get going." He had been kicked out of this place enough times to know that he should never assume that he was welcomed.

She got up from the couch and walked towards him. She looked extremely vulnerable; he did not recall ever seeing her like that.

"Stay," she said with pleading eyes, reaching down for his hand.

"Ok." He knew she didn't just mean tonight; she meant forever.

She turned around without letting go of his hand and gently pulled him, guiding him to her bedroom. She let go of his hand and climbed into bed. He followed and snuggled against her with his front towards her back.

He draped his arm over her torso and she pulled him closer. She slowly started to drift off to sleep, knowing that he would always be there and would never let go.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Beta thanks to mam711


	20. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

* * *

><p>"All right, you two, it's bedtime."<p>

"Please, Mom, 5 more minutes?" pleaded Lily.

"Please, Mom, 5 more minutes?" echoed Neal.

"That's what you said 5 minutes ago. It's time for bed, and you have school tomorrow."

"Fine. But Daddy, you promised to finish the story tonight."

"Go brush your teeth, baby girl; call me when you're ready."

"Ok, Daddy."

"You know, sometimes I feel like I'm raising two children," Sara said as she rolled her eyes.

He gave her a wicked grin in return, which made her giggle.

"You have no idea how happy you make me."

"I think I have some idea—" He cut her off with a kiss.

"Daddy, I'm ready!" Lily interrupted, yelling from her bedroom.

"I can't believe you're telling her _that_ story."

"Come, you're going to like the ending," he said, pulling by her hand into their daughter's bedroom.

"So, where did we leave off yesterday?" he asked, taking a seat on Lily's bed by her waist while Sara walked to the other side and sat with her back against the headboard.

"The cave, the king had just arrived at the cave."

"Yes, the cave.… The king had followed the map all the way to the end and it had led him down to a cave. He recited the magic words and the giant rock covering the entrance opened. He slowly walked into the cave, not fully sure of what he would find … and then, he saw it!"

"What, what did he find?"

"The greatest treasure of his dreams! Full of lavish jewels, piles of gold and the most beautiful paintings he'd ever seen."

"Wow!"

"But, when he got closer and tried to touch it, an elf appeared!" Sara laughed out loud at the image of Mozz with long ears and pointy hat that she conjured up in her head.

"And on the other side of the cave, he saw a fairy and a wizard.

"Was it a good fairy or a bad fairy?"

"It was a beautiful fairy princess."

"And what did they want?"

"The elf congratulated him on finding the treasure and he told him that it was all his. But there was a catch—he would have to disappear to a land far, far away and would never see anyone he knew ever again."

"But what about the princess, and the castle, and the knights?"

"That's exactly what he thought. Then the fairy and the wizard told him that they could take him back to his castle, and his knights, and his princess, and they would make sure that he lived happily ever after, but he would have to forget about the treasure."

"Ah! What did he do?"

"Well, he thought about it for a while and then saw that he didn't need beautiful paintings, or jewels or gold. He realized that his princess was his treasure, so he said 'So long' to the elf and left with the fairy and the wizard. And from that day on, the king, his princess, and the fairy lived happily ever after."

"All right, now, time for bed," said Sara trying to hide the smile on her face.

"Good night, Mommy." Lily kissed her mom.

"Good night, baby girl."

"Good night, Daddy, I love you," she said while giving him a bear hug.

"I love you too, my little princess."


End file.
